HOT magnum question

[rnocera]

I've wondered this a couple times-
The HOT Magnum is supposed to be a pretty great filter. They're durable and hardworking, and I very rarely hear people who have them complain. Except about the fact that they don't handle biological filtration. Everyone hates that they have to run other things for bio filtration.

Why couldn't you fill the HOT Magnum's "chemical" basket with biological media? Wouldn't filling that basket with some form of ceramic/sintered glass, or even something as simple as scrubbies or mini bio balls work? Most of us on here seem to agree on chemical filtration being a waste of time on most tanks (except occaisionally using carbon to remove medicines or tannins, or using purigen).

I'm thinking that the HOT magnum filled with some type of bio-media would work better than most HOB filters, for a very comparable price.

 

[akskirmish]

They are just designed to be a water polisher is all-

The media container-one can do what you are saying-it just isn't much volume to work with and would only be a good setup for a small tank with minimal bio load is all.....

They are just simply not made to be a bio filter-It's not what they "specialize" in.....

 

[89must]

i run mu mag 350 with with just bio media and it works fine

 

[rnocera]

How large of a tank are you running you 350 on? The only tank rating I can find for a HOT magnum says that it's big enough to provide mechanical & chemical filtration for a 30 gallon aquarium- I would think it would work far better on a 30 gallon than the Marineland bio-wheel I have rated for a 30 gallon.

I know it's not a terribly large area, but I would think with the blue filter piece (except, maybe replaced with a piece of finer filter pad? That stuff seems REALLY coarse.) and that container filled with something designed for bio filtration (ehfi substrat?), it would be large enough (biologically) to support a tank a good bit bigger than 30 gallons.

 

[wow_it_esploded]

Get the pro version of either the HOT magnum or the magnum 350. The hot magnum pro comes with a nice biowheel (that happens to be an inch or so larger than the emp 400 bw) and the magnum 350 pro comes with 2 biowheels. Simple...

Either way, I run my 350 with the bluebonded and micron cartridge. I simply rubberband the bluebonded to the outside of the micron piece. Then, because I had a few boxes of extra hagen biomax (the original stuff is much better than the new fluval stuff, although manufactured by the same company) just pourd them around the outside of the mech filtration.

 

[rnocera]

Get the pro version of either the HOT magnum or the magnum 350. The hot magnum pro comes with a nice biowheel (that happens to be an inch or so larger than the emp 400 bw) and the magnum 350 pro comes with 2 biowheels. Simple...

In my experience, biowheels are a joke. I've had them stop spinning for various reasons more than once (snails blocking the wheel, pieces of filter media that came off the cartridge, any type of mineralization buildup, etc. . .), and I absolutely despise them. I am running them on two tanks simply because I have the filters around, but I can't wait to replace them with other filters.
Any tank I run a biowheel on, I also run a sponge filter (or sponge prefilter), because I've lost fish due to a biowheel that stopped spinning, and me ending up with an ammonia spike. I don't think I could ever be convinced to buy a biowheel attachment for any type of filter at all. Before doing that, I'd build any number of "bio-tubes" or towers, or fluidized filters of whatever type.


But your way seems like it would work nicely!

 

[wow_it_esploded]

Well, which filters are you using? The penguin biowheels, if I am not mistaken, are run by the flow of water on the output of the filter. These biowheels are run by spraybars, as in the emperor filter line, and I have never had them stop before. Cleaning out the bearings every month to 2 months (basically, when you service the filter...) and replacing them when you can see that they are visibly worn will ensure constantly turning biowheels. As will proper filter maintenance because a higher flow will help spinning them.

Also, biowheels must be swished around in a bucket of old tank water to get rid of any excess gunk whenever you service your filter.

I have "rock hard" water and I do not have any problems with them stopping as long as I take care of them... Biowheels are superior to any submersed media because the high surface area and the immense availability of oxygen will give the bacteria plenty of resources to thrive.

On another note, one filter should NEVER be used on a tank, especially one that contains creatures you care about. Multiple filters will ensure a quick bounce back from anything that could go wrong... Like filter failures... or biowheels stopping... etc etc.

HTH

 

[Hot Slime]

I dont know how much space you have to work with in a Hot Mag for bio but for The 350 model its very little. These filters are only good for one thing which is water polishing. But I use mines for bio also. I just place a refilter in the intake tube and fill, use the micron fillters and put bags of bio rings in the space left in the filter. Been working fine for the past couple months though I have to rise the media in tank water to make sure they dont get clogged from dirt that gets through.